Lucy Mercer

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Rose-Ringed Time

I wish I could open this door that’s become so swollen in the rain
and step into a clear day where a green parakeet with berries in its beak
drops them at our feet, where the red berries like a shining cluster
of bodies on a branch rise up back up the tree for the parakeet to
once again peck at and sing like an angel in the firmament.
And I walk along holding your sticky hand not worrying at all
no what is what, or what will be, how many pails will I need –

Today you asked me how our brains can see a picture of our brains
& said it makes you feel sick. Forgive me, I’ve been sitting inside
an inside just like that, a person frozen against the radiator
gazing at coins glazing the surface of a basin of a fountain
lighting up the front of a big casino that people never leave.
Ring-necked parakeets are also called rose-ringed parakeets –
did you know that? My little love, your sharpening eyes –

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LUCY MERCER’s first collection Emblem (Prototype, 2022) is the PBS Summer Choice. She teaches creative writing at Goldsmiths. lucy-mercer.com